Chiefs of Relief

Chiefs of Relief
Origin	Britain
Genres	Rock, new wave
Years active	1984–1989, 2010
Past members	Matthew Ashman, Paul Cook, Duncan Grieg, Lance Burman, David Barbarossa, Leigh Gorman

Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group, led by guitarist and vocalist Matthew Ashman, and also featuring drummer Paul Cook.

Career

The band was formed shortly after the demise of new wave band Bow Wow Wow in 1984. It comprised Ashman (who for a brief time tried to continue Bow Wow Wow as their lead singer after the departure of Annabella Lwin for a solo career), Cook, keyboard player Duncan Grieg, and bassist Lance Burman. An early line-up included Ashman and Cook with former Bow Wow Wow members David Barbarossa and Leigh Gorman. Often compared to Big Audio Dynamite (who they would later open for on tour), The Chiefs fused rock with hip hop and electronic elements from the era.

The group's only album was 1988's self-titled release, which was issued in the US by Sire Records. Ashman died in 1995 and, on the fifteenth anniversary of his death, the band reunited for a tribute concert on 21 November 2010 at the Scala in London, in a show with Adam Ant topping the bill. It also featured later Ashman bands, Bow Wow Wow and Agent Provocateur.